Crazy Awakening: My luck can copy Talents.

"Yeah. The rest of the entourage. Rhea’s other familiars. Her other contracts. You’re the newest, so you have to be introduced. It’s tradition. They’re going to look at you funny. Some are going to hate you on instinct. Others are going to size you up. One specifically is going to bully you. Prepare yourself mentally."

"Wait wait wait wait."

"What."

"What do you mean, ’the other contracts’?"

Ishtar looked at him.

Blinked slowly, like a confused owl.

"Bro-in-law."

"Yeah."

"You seriously don’t know?"

"Ishtar, I’ve been a demon for fourteen hours. I don’t know absolutely anything about anything."

"Bro-in-law, my sister has an entire deck. Well, an incomplete deck. But she has a deck."

"Yeah, she explained that. She’s missing six cards."

"Correct. And you are... how old did you say you were? Nineteen."

"Yeah."

"Okay. Quick math. A major arcana deck has twenty-two cards. Minus the six my sister is missing. What does that give you?"

Adrián went very still.

"...sixteen."

"Very good, bro-in-law. You can add. You’re going to go far in this family."

"Wait. Wait. Are you saying there are fifteen more people with contracts with Rhea?"

"Well. Not exactly fifteen. Some cards are still empty. Others are occupied by lesser familiars who’ve been around for centuries. Others are occupied by reincarnates who are on missions outside the city. But yes. Yes, bro-in-law. You’re number sixteen. You’re not an only child anymore. Welcome to a big family."

Adrián set the chopsticks down on the bento.

"..."

He looked at Ishtar.

She smiled at him around the lollipop, her golden eyes shining with the exact satisfaction of a girl who’d been waiting four hours for the moment to see the face he was making at that exact moment.

"Ishtar."

"Yes, bro-in-law?"

"Do you know how many cards are in the tarot?"

"Bro-in-law, I know exactly how many cards are in the tarot. Twenty-two Majors. Fifty-six Minors. But the Minors don’t matter because they’re for basic servitude. The Majors are what count. And you’re one of them. Congratulations, bro-in-law. You’re a Major. You’re important. A waste of importance, according to some cards in the entourage, but important nonetheless."

Silence.

Adrián took a deep breath.

Looked at the bento. He had half a portion left. He ate it all. Calmly. With concentration. With the exact feeling of a man who needed to fill his stomach before processing the new information that had just been dumped on his head like a bucket of cold water.

When he finished, he closed the container. Set it on his lap. Looked at Ishtar again.

"Ishtar."

"Yeah?"

"And the first mission? You mentioned something about a first mission."

"Oh, yeah. Right. Sorry, I forgot."

Ishtar took the lollipop out of her mouth. Held it between two fingers. Looked at it like it was a fascinating research object.

"After the introduction, my sister wants to send you on your first mission. Something soft. Something typical for new reincarnates. A basic-level human contract."

"...human contract?"

"Yeah, bro-in-law. Demons sign contracts with humans who summon us. That’s how we operate. Someone asks us for something, we give it to them, they pay us with energy or favors or eventually their souls. And new reincarnates always get the most boring contracts as training. Things like ’find my keys’ or ’make my ex call me.’"

"..."

"You’re going to hate it."

"I already hate it."

"Yeah. But you have to start there. We all started there. A hundred years ago, I had to help a guy find his dog. His name was Marcos. The dog, not the guy."

"A hundred years?"

"Oh, bro-in-law, don’t ask that. It’s rude."

"Ishtar."

"Vega."

"..."

Adrián looked at the sky.

The sun was starting to tilt. In a while, the afternoon would fall. In a while, the night would fall. In a while, there would be a meeting in some enormous hall in the Alastor building where fifteen people or entities or whatever they were would look at him funny and he’d have to pretend he knew how to behave in a demonic noble house he’d belonged to for exactly half a day.

"Ishtar."

"Yeah?"

"I have Psychology class in twenty minutes."

"Yeah."

"And then a meeting with the other cards in the deck."

"Yeah."

"And then a mission with a human whose dog I have to find."

"A human whose something you have to find, yes. Not necessarily a dog. That’s just an example."

"And all of this pretending my life is still normal so I don’t get Yuki involved."

"Correct."

"And without it showing on my face that last night I had a hole the size of a fist in my chest."

"Correct."

"Great. Everything’s fine. Normal life."

Adrián stood up. Sling his backpack over his shoulder. Held Yuki’s container in his left hand.

Looked at Ishtar.

"Bro-in-law."

"Yeah?"

"If it’s any consolation."

"Tell me."

"I’m also going to bully you at tonight’s meeting. But out of affection."

"Thanks. Very reassuring."

"You’re welcome, bro-in-law."

Adrián started walking toward the Social Sciences building.

Ishtar remained seated on the bench, lollipop in her mouth, watching him walk away. After a moment, she pulled out her phone. Typed a message.

On the other side of the city, in the thirtieth-floor office of the Alastor building, Rhea Alastor received the message while reading an ancient contract with a glass of red wine in her hand.

Sister. The kid is more broken than we thought. But also more whole.

Rhea read the message. Stared at it for a few seconds. Then smiled very slightly, to herself.

She typed a reply:

Perfect. That’s exactly what we need.

And went back to reading the contract.

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!